St Buryan
St Buryan
| |
---|---|
Location within Cornwall | |
Population | 1,412 (United Kingdom Census 2011) |
OS grid reference | SW409257 |
Civil parish | |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | PENZANCE |
Postcode district | TR19 |
Dialling code | 01736 |
Police | Devon and Cornwall |
Fire | Cornwall |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
St Buryan (
The village of St Buryan is situated approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Penzance along the B3283 towards Land's End. Three further minor roads also meet at St Buryan, two link the village with the B3315 towards Lamorna, and the third rejoins the A30 at Crows-an-Wra.[2]
St Buryan parish encompassed the villages of St. Buryan, Lamorna, and
Named after the Irish
The parish is dotted with evidence of
Many painters of the Newlyn School including Samuel John "Lamorna" Birch were based at Lamorna in the south-east of the parish. St Buryan Village Hall was also the former location of Pipers Folk Club, created in the late 1960s by celebrated Cornish singer Brenda Wootton.
Geography
The parish, which is generally fertile and well cultivated, comprises 6,972 acres (2,821 ha) of land, 3 acres (1.2 ha) of water and 18 acres (7.3 ha) of foreshore and lies predominantly on
Toponymy
The village is named after the 6th century Irish Christian missionary
History
St Buryan and the surrounding area is rich in history and has been a centre of human activity for several thousand years.
Early Neolithic Period
The area surrounding St Buryan was in use by humans in
Like Stonehenge and other stone monuments built during this period the original purpose of such stone circles is unknown, although there is strong evidence that they may have been ceremonial or religious sites. Many other lone standing stones from the neolithic period can be seen around the parish, at sites including Pridden, Trelew, Chyangwens and Trevorgans. In addition to menhirs there are 12 stone crosses within the parish,[9] including two fine examples in St Buryan itself, one in the churchyard, and the other in the centre of the village. These take the form of a standing stone, sometimes carved into a Celtic cross but more often left roughly circular with a carved figure on the face. It is thought that many of these are pagan in origin, dating from the Neolithic and later periods, but were adapted by the early Christian church to remove evidence of the previous religion.[10] These crosses are often remote and mark/protect ancient crossing points.[10] Other examples in the parish can be found at Crows-an-Wra, Trevorgans and Vellansaga.
Bronze and Iron Ages
Only several hundred yards from the site of the Merry Maidens lies a
Middle Ages
Human activity in the parish continued and intensified in the
After the
"EGLOSBERRIE; it was free in the time of King Edward (the Confessor, i.e. before 1066); 1 hide (about 120 acres). Land for 8 ploughs (requiring, perhaps, 8 oxen each); ½ plough there. 6 villagers and 6 smallholders. Pasture, 20 acres. Value 10s; when the Count (of Mortain) received the land, value 40s. Also 12 cattle and 12 sheep."[15]
St Buryan was visited by
Tudor and Stuart period
Perhaps one of the most notable residents of St Buryan during the seventeenth century was one
Smuggling activity in Britain became more prevalent though the Tudor and Stuart period reaching its peak at the end of the 18th century. High rates of duty were levied on imported wine, spirits, and other luxury goods to pay for Britain's expensive wars with France and the United States. Cornwall was a haven for smugglers at this time, with its many secluded coves ideally suited for evasion of the duty, a smuggling provided a highly profitable venture for impoverished fishermen and seafarers. St Buryan was no different in this respect, and also home to smuggling activity.[14] Thomas Johns, a known smuggler and agent of smugglers, was the landlord of the Kings Arms public house, formerly on the site of Belmont House in the village square, who divided his time between St Buryan and his liquor establishments in Roscoff, Brittany.[14] More famous still was the Lamorna wink public house near Lamorna Cove which was also a base for smugglers. The pub was so named as winking at the barman would reputedly allow you to purchase smuggled spirits.[14]
Industrial Revolution
Twentieth century
After a period of decline during the twentieth century, which saw a reduction in the village's population (see figure), culminating in the loss of a blacksmiths, the local dairy, the village butchers and a café in the early nineties, St Buryan has been enjoying a renaissance, fuelled in part by an influx of new families. The local school has been expanded to include a hall and a fourth classroom and a new community centre has recently been built nearby.
In common with other settlements in the district such as Newlyn and Penzance, the post-war period saw the building of a council estate to the west of the village on land formerly part of Parcancady farm. The development was meant to provide affordable housing at a time of short supply in the post-war years. The estate subsequently expanded westward in the nineteen eighties and nineties. In the last census return, St Buryan parish was reported as containing contains 533 dwellings housing 1,215 people, 1,030 of which were living in the village itself.[23][24]
Religion
St Buryan has a long history of religious activity both through its historical connection with the church of the state, and later playing an important part in the Methodist revival of the 18th century, led by John Wesley who visited the parish and ministered on several occasions.
The Church of St Buryan
A church has stood on the current site since ca. 930 AD, built by
Methodism
John Wesley, the founding father of
Education
The first record of a school in the parish was in 1801, on a site adjacent to the old poorhouse beside the church buildings in the main village. This was administered through the poorhouse, whose trustees were also the trustees of the school. A new school was built in 1830 which now forms the village hall. The school was subscription based and pupils paid a penny a day toward their education. When compulsory education was introduced in 1875 these buildings were extended to deal with the influx of pupils. The school moved again to its present site, a new purpose built building along Rectory Road, in 1910.
Today St Buryan primary school teaches pupils between the ages of four and eleven and is a
The school currently teaches 87 pupils from the parish and surrounding villages. inspection pupils' standards of achievement were classed as good overall with above average results in Science and English and very high attainment in Mathematics.
Culture
Like much of the rest of Cornwall, St Buryan has many strong cultural traditions. The first Cornish
St Buryan is the home of a wisewoman, Cassandra Latham.[37] In 1996 Cassandra Latham was appointed as the first-ever Pagan contact for hospital patients. Within one year she was having so many requests for her services that she became a self-employed "witch" and was no longer financially supported by the government.[38]
The feast of St Buriana is celebrated on the Sunday nearest to 13 May (although the saint's official day is 1 May) consisting of fancy dress and competitions for the children of the village and usually other entertainments later in the evening. In the summer there are also several other festivals, including the agricultural preservation rally in which vintage tractor, farm equipment, rare breed animals and threshing demonstrations are shown as well as some vintage cars and traction engines. This is currently being hosted at Trevorgans Farm and is traditionally held on the last Saturday of July.
St Buryan is twinned with Calan in Morbihan, Brittany.[39]
The local community radio station is Coast FM (formerly Penwith Radio), which broadcasts on 96.5 and 97.2 FM.[40]
Cornish wrestling
Cornish wrestling tournaments, for prizes were held in St Buryan in the 1800s.[41]
Literature, cinema and music
Espionage novelist David John Moore Cornwell, better known as John le Carré, (whose books include The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) lived in St Buryan for more than forty years. Many of his novels have been adapted for film, the most recent being Our Kind of Traitor in 2016. The author Derek Tangye, who died in 1996, also lived and wrote in the parish for many years, writing over twenty books, the Minack Chronicles, about life in rural Cornwall (Minack deriving from Dorminack Farm). Sam Peckinpah's 1971 film Straw Dogs, starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George, was filmed in St Buryan.[42][43]
Brenda Wootton,[44][45] the well-known Cornish bard and folk singer, ran her celebrated 'Pipers Folk Club' in St Buryan Village Hall for a time in the late 1960s (later in Botallack). Continuing the musical tradition, the village is also home to St Buryan Male Voice Choir who fulfil many engagements every year and adopt a variety of musical styles.[46] The choir was founded over sixty years ago by Hugh Rowe;[14] his son Geoffrey Rowe was born in the village, and made his name as a singer and comedian performing as Jethro.[47][48] A female voice choir, the Buriana Singers, also exists.[49]
Art
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the parish attracted many painters from the
Economy
The major economic activity in the parish is agriculture and the parish encompasses several large farms. Most agriculture centres around dairying, with arable crops such as potato and cauliflower being farmed as well as some raising of pigs and sheep. As with much of Cornwall, fishing is an important source of income and employment. Many smaller crabbers and landline fishermen operate from the various coves and harbours on the rocky shore. Before its closure at the turn of the millennium the transatlantic telephone cable station, and telecommunications educational facility, run by Cable and Wireless at Porthcurno provided further employment opportunities in the neighbouring parish of St Levan. Its central location in west Penwith and proximity to popular tourist attractions such as the Minack Theatre, Land's End and the Blue Flag beach at Sennen Cove,[51] mean that St Buryan enjoys a healthy income from visitors, both day trippers and those renting accommodation, during the summer months.
Government and politics
In 2020
Transport
Being one of the most westerly parishes in England, St Buryan is somewhat isolated from the rest of the UK. The village of St Buryan is situated approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Penzance along the B3283 which forks about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the end of the A30, the major trunk road that runs the length of Cornwall.
Three further minor roads also meet at St Buryan, two link the village with the B3315 towards Lamorna, and the third rejoins the A30 at Crows-an-Wra. St. Buryan is served by four bus routes. Services 1 and 1A run between Penzance and Land's End via Gwavas, Sheffield, St Buryan and Sennen. The 300 service runs a circular route via St Ives, St Just, Sennen, St Buryan and Newlyn.
These routes are run by
Travel by rail is via the
.St Buryan's closest airports are
Amenities
Commercial activity in St Buryan centres around Churchtown where a well stocked village store, run under a Londis franchise and housing an ATM cashpoint, plus a post office, an antiques shop and the St Buryan Inn are located. There is also a garage at the eastern end of the village that runs a limited coach service. St Buryan Farm Shop, on the outskirts of the village between St Buryan and Crows an Wra opened in August 2018 providing home grown Vegetables, home reared and local meats in the butchery counter, pasties and other baked good made on site, there is also a cafe area and children's play area onsite with large off-road parking area.
The village was also previously served by its own butchers shop, this was closed in 1990 due to combination of the economic recession and pressure from the recently opened
References
- ^ "List of Place-names agreed by the MAGA Signage Panel" (PDF). Cornish Language Partnership "Maga". p. 23. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-319-23148-7
- ^ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ^ a b c GENUKI, 2006. "St Buryan."
- ^ Penwith District Council, 2005. "List of conservation areas Archived 27 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine."
- ^ ISBN 1-902793-02-1. Quoted at West Penwith Resources.
- ^ Tom Bullock, 2002. "Boscawen Un." Megalithic Portal. Verified 24 August 2006.
- ^ Stones of England, n.d. "The Merry Maidens." Verified 24 August 2006.
- ^ Langdon, A. G. (1896) Old Cornish Crosses. Truro: Joseph Pollard
- ^ a b Alex Everitt, n.d. "A Brief History of the Celtic Cross in Cornwall Archived 13 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine". Verified 24 August 2006.
- ^ Megalithic Portal, n.d. "Tregiffian Barrow." Verified 24 August 2006.
- ^ a b Megalithic Portal, n.d. "Boleigh – Souterrain." Verified 24 August 2006.
- ^ Rosemerryn Wood, n.d. "Fogou Archived 30 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine." Verified 24 August 2006.
- ^ ISBN 0-9501296-5-8
- ISBN 0-85033-155-2
- ^ Timeline of Cornish history Archived 19 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Enable ASP". Archived from the original on 11 October 2006. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ James Wood, ed. The Nuttall Encyclopædia of General Knowledge (1907) reproduced at http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Wood-NuttallEncyclopaedia/s/ship-money.html
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) vol. V19 "Biography of William Noy"
- ^ "Kelly's Directory of Cornwall 1893". West Penwith Resources. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
- ^ "Reduction of Harbour Export Dues". The Cornishman. No. 96. 13 May 1880. p. 4.
- ^ "A Traction-Engine". The Cornishman. No. 302. 24 April 1884. p. 4.
- ^ 2001 UK census
- ^ Penwith District Council, 2000. Parish population estimates Archived 9 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine (PDF)
- ^ Stone, John Frederick Matthias Harris (1912) England's Riviera: a topographical and archæological description of Land's End, Cornwall and adjacent spots of beauty and interest. London: Kegan Paul Trench, Trübner & Co.
- ISBN 0-85115-478-6
- ^ "Domesday Book, folio 121b, chapter 4, paragraph 27".
- ^ a b Wasley, K. (n.d.) ""St Buryan". Archived from the original on 3 May 2006. Retrieved 24 August 2006.
- ^ Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; pp. 67–68
- F. C. Hingeston-Randolph, ed. Episcopal Registers: Diocese of Exeter. Vols. 1–4. London: George Bell, 1886–97
- ^ This Is The Westcountry, n.d. "The Great Bells of St Buryan, Cornwall Archived 4 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine." Verified 24 August 2006.
- ^ Lewis, S. (1831) Topographical Dictionary of England
- ^ The Worcestershire & Districts Change Ringing Association, n.d. ""Imperial Bell Weights"."
- ^ The Rev Robert Corker was curate in charge in 1747; the "gentleman who objected in 1766 is not known"; according to tradition the hepping stock near the churchyard was the site he used for his address in 1766 (illustrated p. 147); a third visit was in 1782 when he preached in the afternoon. Wesley, John, et al.; Pearce, John, ed. (1964) The Wesleys in Cornwall: extracts from the Journals of John and Charles Wesley and John Nelson. Truro: D. Bradford Barton; pp. 103, 103n, 146-47, 164.
- ^ a b West Penwith Resources, 2005. "St. Just Methodist Circuits."
- ^ a b "St Buryan School Ofsted inspection report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2004. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ Cassandra Latham. "Cassandra Latham the wisewoman". Retrieved 4 June 2009.
- ^ Cornish World; Issue 13 Jun./ Jul./ Aug. 1997, p. 14
- ^ Cornwall County Council list of twin towns and villages Archived 25 October 2007 at archive.today
- ^ "Volunteer run Penwith Radio to change its name to Coast FM". falmouthpacket.co.uk. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
- ^ Royal Cornwall Gazette, 2 August 1823.
- ^ Reeves, Tony. "Filming Locations for Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs (1971)". Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "Straw Dogs film extras 'shocked'". 4 November 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "The Cornish Pasty – There's something about a pasty. Written by Brenda Wootton". Retrieved 1 April 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-906032-54-8.
- ^ "St Buryan Male Voice Choir". Federation of Cornish Choirs. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
- ^ Spiers, Judi. "10 things you didn't know about the comedian Jethro". Devon Life. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
- ^ "Jethro's Homepage". Jethro's Homepage. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
- ^ "Buriana Singers". Facebook. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
- ^ "The Lamorna Artists, Penlee House Artists Gallery and Museum Penzance Cornwall UK". Archived from the original on 22 May 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2008. "The Lamorna Artists" Penlee House Museum & Art Gallery website
- ^ Blue Flag, n.d. "Sennen Cove."
- ^ "The Cornwall (Reorganisation of Community Governance) No. 1 Order 2020" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007" (PDF). 8 December 2020.
- ^ "Home - First UK Bus". First UK Bus. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
- ^ [1] Newquay airport
External links
- The St. Buryan Community Site
- Some Account of the St. Burian Rood Screen – Robert J. Preston, 1891
- Plan of St Buryan Church by William Smith, 1859
- Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for St Buryan
- St Buryan Farm Shop www.stburyanfarmshop.co.uk